Catch Me If I Fall
by Bloody Sunset
Summary: Buffy's back from heaven, but she's dealing a little bit differently so far, and Spike's helping in anyway he can. Spuffy
1. Chapter 1

A/n yeah, Yeah I know, I don't update my other stories enough, and you all hate me for starting a new one with out finishing the others.

**Warning!:** Buffy will seem weak in this story.... Get over it.

Disclaimer: Spike, Angel and Oz. That's all I want, but I don't even have them.... Man this sucks.

Catch Me If I Fall

It was dark out, but that didn't really bother Spike as he walked out of the butcher's shop. He would much rather have it dark than light out, seeing as the sun would turn him into a nice pile of smothering ash if he went out in it. Yeah, he really did prefer the moon to the sun any day.

You can look at it with out blinding yourself, and it made for the perfect romantic evening, you know, if you were into that kind of thing, and even if you weren't, it was still nice to just look at.

He entered the cemetery carrying a large brown grocery bag filled with packets of blood. The local butcher never asked questions about what Spike was going to do with the blood, and it was always easy to get it at a low price, if not for free.

He hummed to himself as he walked down the familiar path that would take him back to his crypt, feeling content to know he had gotten the blood for free tonight. Which, of course, put him in a rather good mood. But then again, something always happens to get him out of his good mood.

A scream rang out across the cemetery, and Spike sighed, it was just a normal day in Sunnydale. Somehow someone finds them self in the cemetery, whether they be taking a short cut, or are just weird, and are attacked by some evil... thing.

He dropped the bag of blood he had been carrying, and raced in the direction the scream had come from, wondering why he cared. He kept running over the familiar grounds until he came across the source of the scream.

A petite blonde girl was pinned beneath a rather large man, struggling hard to get away. Her arms, and legs were held down by the man's, she was trapped, and Spike could tell this was no ordinary man.

It was a vampire.

It growled, almost happily, as the girl stopped her struggle to get away, obviously tired from the fight between her and the demon. She whimpered softly, somehow knowing what was coming next. Her eyes closed and she gritted her teeth, wondering how long it would take before this vamp killed her. Drained her of all her blood, and left her pale and lifeless in the middle of the cemetery.

The Vampire slowly lowered his head to the girl's neck, letting the demon inside him take over his facial features. He licked and nipped at her neck, before he prepared to bite down, and drink the precious crimson liquid. But that moment never came as the Vampire on top of the girl disappeared, or more accurately turned to dust.

She opened her eyes as the weight on top of her disappeared, blinking the dust out of her eyes. A man stood over her, dressed in all black, and holding a stake in one hand. The girl recognized him immediately. He looked down at her, seemingly concerned.

"You ok, luv?" he asked as the girl sat up, offering her a hand.

"I'm fine, Spike." She said angrily, shaking her head and taking Spike's offered hand, she stood up.

"Yeah, you are now. But what would have happened if I hadn't come along? He asked, "Would you have been fine then, Slayer?"

"Of course, I had the situation completely under control." She said, brushing the dust off her clothes.

"Right.... And that's what you have teeth marks all over you neck, isn't it?" he asked sarcastically.

She glared at him, "Shut up Spike. I had a plan."

"And what was that, to get killed again?"

Buffy blinked, pain flickering in her eyes before she closed them, and took a deep breath, trying to calm down. It didn't work. A tear fell from her eyes, and she stifled a sob, finding it difficult not to cry.

Spike had known she had been in heaven, hell, he was the only one she had told so far for some odd reason. And all he seemed to do, in Buffy's view, was try to make her life harder than it already was for her.

Spike on the other hand, was actually trying to help, and was regretting what he had just said, instantly realizing that he shouldn't have.

"Buffy, luv, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to say that...." He said, moving closer to her, and wrapping his arms around her in a protective embrace.

Surprisingly, Buffy didn't object, and hid her face in his chest crying, feeling the pain of coming back, like she had the first couple of days after her resurrection, the first days she had spent out of heaven.

She had been doing this a lot. Crying in his arms, the pain taking full hold of her. She had begun about a week ago, instead of staying silent with a morbid look on her face; she would seek shelter in Spike's arms, crying her eyes out.

Tonight, as she cried in his arms thinking about being ripped out of heaven, Spike stared down at her, stroking her hair gently, mumbling comforting words to her. He was thinking about what he had just seen. Buffy struggling with a vampire, would she have really just given up like that, and let that scum kill her? Take her life without a fight? Was she really that desperate for death?

It was then that his hand fell across a wet sticky area on the back of her head. He looked at his hand as he brought it up to eye level, watching the unmistakable red liquid drip off his fingers.

It was blood. Buffy's blood. Slayer's blood. And now, holding her close to him, he could smell it, strong, and almost intoxicating.

"Luv, you're hurt." He said bluntly.

She looked up at him, but didn't answer, and he saw something he hadn't earlier.

Her face was pale, and her eyes had lost that undeniable sparkle he saw every night she was with him. She was bleeding from more than just the large gash on her head, and she was leaning against him for support, favoring her left leg a little.

"What happened here, pet?" he asked, growing concerned when he saw her wounds.

She didn't answer, instead she focus on trying to stand on her own, but just ended up need Spike as more of a crutch than she did before.

"Buffy?"

She looked up at him, now wrapping her arms around him for support, and whimpering softly.

"Vampires...." She mumbled pulling herself closer to him.

Spike, seeing her obvious distress in the area of standing, sighed, and picked her up fireman style.

"You're a mess, pet." He told her.

Buffy ignored his comment and wrapped her arms around his neck, burying her face in his shoulder, seemingly unaware that it was Spike who was holding her.

He carried her back to his crypt, and lay her down on his couch, knowing that, a) there was no way he could carry her down a ladder to his bed, and b) if he ever did manage to do that, she would beat the crap out of him for putting her in his bed.

"There you go, luv." He said, grabbing the first aid kit, and kneeling down next to the couch.

Opening the kit, he took out some gauze, and the antiseptic he knew he'd only use if he were helping her, seeing as he was dead and really couldn't get infected.

She winced as he poured the cool liquid over one of her open wounds, cleaning it out, and stinging it like a bee. She bit her lip as Spike continued to fix up all the cuts and scratches. She felt like hell, everything hurt, all because of those damn Vampires.

A couple of a dozen had just came put of nowhere and attacked her that night, and if Spike hadn't come along, she probably would have been killed by the only one she had been to tired to stake.

He looked up at her when she winced, wondering how this could have happened. But then again, Spike had only seen one of the Vampires, not the full set of twenty-four.

Buffy was only wondering how much longer this was going to take, and until the pain would stop. Her foot ached real badly, and it might have been sprained, if not broken during the fight.

"Spike?" she asked, quietly.

"Hm?" he asked, not looking up at her, accessing the damage of her leg.

"Why are you helping me?" she asked.

"You know why." He said, wrapping her foot in an ace bandage.

"No, I don't." she said, and he looked up at her.

"Well, if you don't know, than you haven't been listening to me much lately, luv, 'cause I sure as hell say it a lot."

She rolled her eyes, "Well seeing as you know I never listen to you, why don't you just tell me?"

"Because.... I-I love you, Buffy." He said, quietly, and as fast as he could, knowing fully that she was actually listening when he said it this time.

"You w-what?" she asked; only thinking she had heard him right.

"Nothing, luv, now you need to rest, and seeing as you have one nasty sprained ankle on your hands, or rather, on your foot.... You're going to need to stay put." He said, cleaning up the first aid kit and standing.

She was going to protest, but when she tried to sit up, she immediately found it more to her liking if she just stayed put, even if she would have to deal with him for the rest of the night.


	2. Chapter 2

The rest night moved slowly for Spike, and even slower for Buffy, who couldn't find a comfortable position on the couch, much less be able to fall asleep in the crypt of one of her enemies. She rolled over a couple of times, each time finding it easier to remind herself of where she was, or almost fall off the couch and onto the floor.

She heard a groan coming from behind the couch, and using her arms to prop herself up, she looked behind it.

Lying on the large cement coffin in the middle of the room was Spike. He appeared to be sleeping, but Buffy wasn't really sure if he was or not. She couldn't really tell because she couldn't see his face, and wasn't close enough to him to see him in the dark very well anyway.

She winced, and let herself fall back on the couch. It creaked on the old springs, making Buffy wonder how old the thing was, and where Spike could have gotten it.

She heard another groan, but this time she just ignored it, knowing who, and where it was coming from now. And, if he decided he wanted to be any louder, she could throw something at him to shut him up. Then again, that could wake him up and he might be even more annoying when he's awake.

She sighed. Why couldn't Spike have taken her home, or at least found something comfier for her to lie on? This couch was ok to sit on, but lying down away another thing.

She rolled over again, facing the small TV he kept in his crypt. She grunted in pain, and moved to lie on her back, which was, she decided, equally as painful as the last position. She just had to go patrolling that night, it would have been so much easier to just have stayed at home with Dawn and-

Wait, Dawn! She was all alone at home, and Buffy was supposed to be there. What was she going to say in the morning? _Oh, I'm sorry, I slept at Spike's last night._ Yeah that would be great. Dawn would tell her how it wasn't fair that she couldn't hang out there, and all Buffy did was go over there and bug Spike. Oh and Xander, _You did what!? Buffy I can't believe you, you should've just come home!_

She doubted Willow or Tara would say anything, they usually let Buffy deal with her business, instead of getting into it, and messing around, telling her what she was doing wrong.

Anya, well she probably ask how many orgasms Spike gave her. Giles, well, he would do the Giles thing. Clean his glasses, and say "Good Lord", or "Oh Dear". Yep, her friends were just that supportive of her. It was comforting sometimes.

Just not now.

She heard Spike groan again, and grabbed an extra pillow from beside the couch. Throwing it at him, she was happy to hear an annoyed and drowsy, "Bloody Hell!" come from behind her.

Spike sat up quickly when the pillow hit him, half expecting some demon to be standing over him, threatening to kill him or something. But no, it was just the bloody slayer being as annoying as ever over on his couch.

_Bloody Hell, what does a vamp have to do to get a good nights sleep 'round here?_ He wondered standing up, grabbing the pillow, and walking over to the couch.

Leaning over it, he saw Buffy lying down, her eyes closed and a small smile on her face. He growled, and hit her over the head with the pillow.

Her eyes snapped open, "OW! Spike! What'd you do that for!?" she asked, looking up at him.

"Felt like it, besides, you threw it at me first." He said in defense, sitting on the side of the couch, smirking at her.

"Well you didn't have to hit me back, it's not very nice to hit a lady you know." She said.

"Right you are. If I see one I'll be sure to remember that."

Buffy growled and smacked him hard as she painfully sat up. It was too early for this, especially if you were tired and injured. "Go to Hell Spike." She told him.

"Slayer, my life is a living Hell." He said, glancing around his crypt. "My old buddies hate me, I'm sot out and beaten by all the demons that come to this town, not that I can't take them, mind you, and it's all because I help you."

"You only help me because that chip in your head won't let you hurt anything but demons." Buffy said, matter-of-factly.

"Well true, what'da think, I was helping you because I wanted to?" he asked, "Hah, like that would ever happen."

Buffy rolled her eyes at him. "Oh c'mon Spike, admit it, you like to hang out with me." She said sarcastically.

But Spike took her seriously, "Only if you admit you like me." He said, and she looked at him.

"You got to be kidding me." She said, "Spike, I hate you. You know that, I know that. Get over it."

He sighed, "Buffy look, I know you feel something. I can sense it when I'm around you, you really don't hate me. And I'm not letting you leave until you say it."

Buffy almost laughed, "You want me to say that I like you?"

"Yeah that's all, pet."

"Uh uh, not gonna happen. Spike, I loathe you. Didn't I just say 'get over it'?" she asked, and he looked at her incredulously.

"C'mon Buffy. I just saved your bloody life. I didn't get a thank you, and you still say hate me, what do I have to do?" he asked her.

"I don't know Spike, maybe just forget about it? Besides, you could've just taken me home, saved me some time, instead of bringing me here to listen to you snore for a few hours." She said.

"Right, like you would've made it home with all those wounds not cared for. Buffy you would've bled to death in the time it would've taken to get there." He explained, getting a little fed up with her.

"They were just scratches, nothing I couldn't handle, Spike." She said, glaring at him, "I'm not some weakling school girl who can't care for herself, I'm the slayer-"

"The slayer who almost got killed tonight." He said, leering at her, "You know, sometimes I really can't stand you Slayer, you're always, me, me, me. What about me? I think I have bloody well earned your respect, and I still get treated like dirt! What problem do you have with me that you can't treat me like a normal person?"

"Maybe the fact that you're an evil, soulless, vampire, and not a person. You know that's a really big set back for you." She said, smirking.

"Hello, not the point here. I help you and your nancy boy scoobies fight the good fight. Avoid apocalypse and save the world and junk, without so much as a thank you, or a good job. I get no respect, and it's your bloody fault!" he said, nearly shouting at this point.

Buffy raised her eyebrows, "I never knew you felt so strongly about it Spike. Maybe next time I'll invite you over for dinner and tuck you in a night, and rise to your every beck-and-call, just because the Initiative shoved a chip in your brain, and you can't kill us, so you get your kicks from insulting us and killing your own kind." The sarcasm that dripped from her words pissed Spike off even more.

"You know what Slayer? I should have let that other Vamp kill you. Would've been a lot quieter in this town if you left again. Sure as hell was great when that bot was running the place." He said, then instantly regretted it. He hadn't meant it, at all.

Buffy swallowed hard at the mention of her death, she hated to think about how she had been in heaven, and how she had been brought back. She hated to think that what Spike was saying might be true, that it was better when she was gone. That no one missed her, but they wouldn't have brought her back if that were true.

"Shut up Spike." She said, tears forming in her eyes, but she didn't let them fall. She couldn't, she didn't want Spike to know how much his words had actually affected her. She couldn't let him know he had hit a nerve, "Just shut up." Though he probably knew, due to the fact her comeback wasn't as snappy as she'd wanted it to be.

Spike sighed and sat down next to her, "Look pet, I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that, I was just a little mad." He tried to explain, but Buffy wouldn't even look at him.

"Go away Spike. I already know you hate me, you don't have to rub it in." she said, then realized how that sounded, like she cared whether he hated her or not.

Spike looked at her, "What was that, pet?" he asked.

"You know what I meant. I don't care if you hate me, because I hate you."

Even Buffy could hear that her words had sounded forced, like she was just saying them to convince herself, but Spike just kept it to himself, not wanting to upset her anymore than he already had.

"What ever you say, luv. What ever you say" He said quietly so that she barely heard, standing up and going back over to where he had been sleeping before.


	3. Chapter 3

Buffy awoke to the sun pouring in through on of the small windows in Spike's crypt. She grumbled in annoyance, and tried to roll over to escape the rays shining in her eyes.

A shot of pain through her leg caused her to freeze in her efforts, and groan in pain. Her ankle hadn't hurt this much last night, why did it hurt now? Ok, better question, what had she done to let her ankle get however much screwed up it was now?

She pushed herself into a sitting position with her hands, glancing around the room, looking for Spike. Once again, she found him sprawled out on top of that stone coffin, only this time he wasn't snoring, just lying there, a peaceful look on his face. Maybe he was dreaming. Wait, did vampires dream?

She sighed and let the question go, not really caring about the answer too much, seeing as her mind had drifted to thinking how cute Spike looked when he was sleeping. Again with the wait; she did not just think that Spike was cute, there was no way she would ever think that way, right?

Buffy forced herself to look away from the gorgeous (again with the adjectives...) vampire, and at the many candles he kept on the windowsill. She wondered why a vampire would need candles; she'd thought they could see in the dark like a human could in the light, their eyes didn't even need to adjust. Well, that's what Giles had told her when she was first learning about being a Slayer under him as her Watcher.

_Ok, defiantly need something to think about, seeing as I can't move, I'm stuck in **Spike's** crypt, and I'm having thoughts that don't exactly agree with what I normally think...._ She said to herself, shaking her head slightly.

She wasn't having the best time in the world just sitting there, and now was wondering how long it would take before Spike would wake up. Judging by how bored she was now, it was probably about ten AM or so, and he was still sleeping.

She groaned in annoyance, and sat up, placing her good leg on the ground, and using it to stand up. She balanced herself out using the side of the couch, and hopped over to where Spike was _still_ sleeping.

Smiling at a sudden idea of how to wake up the vampire, she grabbed the pillow off the back of the couch he had hit her with the night before. She raised her arms over her head, pillow in her hands, and leaning against the coffin for support, then quickly slammed it down over his head.

Spike jumped up, eyes wide and confused. He looked around, and when his eyes landed on Buffy he growled.

"Bloody hell Slayer, couldn't you see I was sleeping?" he asked, glaring at her as he stood up.

"Well duh. Hence the wake up call." She said leering at him, maybe waking him up wasn't such a good idea.

He stomped over to her and grabbed her roughly by the shoulders, obviously not amused by what she had done.

She winced at being thrown off balance so quickly, and having to put weight on her bad ankle. Spike didn't seem to notice at first, instead he shook her hard, and as if trying to instill that she wasn't allowed to wake him up in her memory.

Again a pain shot through her leg, and she took a deep breath, closing her eyes for a moment. Spike suddenly realized what was wrong, and let go of her.

"You know, you really shouldn't be standing on that yet." He stated, motioning to her foot.

"Yeah, I know. But you can't expect me to want to sit around on your couch all day, can you?" she asked sarcastically.

"Well, do you want to spend it sitting on my bed then?" he asked, not exactly meaning it.

"Well, it would be more comfy than this couch, so I guess I would." She said sarcastically.

Spike looked at her like he hadn't heard her right, and then shook his head.

"Right then," he picked her up and made his was over to the ladder that led to the bottom part of his crypt, "We can do that."

Buffy felt shocked at first, then just found herself getting angry. "I was kidding Spike, you can't image I'd want to go anywhere near your bed knowing that you've slept in it before." she said, struggling half heartedly against him, not exactly wanting to get dropped.

He smirked at her, "Done a lot more than just sleeping." He said, jumping down into his living space, and walking over to the bed.

"You're a pig Sp-" she didn't get to finish her sentence before he dropped her onto the bed, and sat down next to her.

"Yeah, I know, you tell me that a lot."

"Well, it must be true then." She rolled her eyes, immediately trying to get up, and away from him, but he quickly grabbed her around the waist and pulled her back down on his lap, much to her distaste. It was to her distaste, right?

"Don't even think about trying that Slayer. You can't walk and you know it, so just stay put for once in your life." He said.

Buffy glared at him, then pushed away herself off of him quickly. "I can too walk, don't you remember your wake up call Spikey?" She asked, smiling innocently at him, "Or did you forget that I hit you over the head this morning?"

He growled, but didn't say anything, and stood up, "Yeah, whatever Slayer, now you just lie down, get comfy, and don't move. You'll break your bloody leg if you put to much strain on it now." He told her, "Probably fracture it if you tried to walk on it again."

"Since when do you care?" she asked, coldly.

He rolled his eyes at her wondering what made him think he could ever just have a conversation with her, "You really don't listen to me, do you, pet?"

Spike turned away from Buffy, and made his way back over to the ladder they had come down, looking like he was going to leave her down there alone.

"And where do you think you're going?" she asked, propping herself up on her elbows.

"Nowhere, luv. Just going to close the hatch, don't want any demons coming in here, do we now?" he asked, rhetorically, pulling the hatch down so that it made a loud crash and bouncing once before closing completely.

She thought about it for a second, and then figured he was right, there probably were a whole bunch of demon's that would waltz right in here and try to kill Spike because he had killed their cousin or something like that. She, personally, didn't care, Spike did what he felt like doing, or now, what he could do to get his share of the violence around here, and if that meant killing all his once demon pals, then she wouldn't stand in his way.

Lying back against the large, fluffy pillows Spike had on his bed, Buffy sighed; she was bored, and, even when she was sitting down, her foot hurt. What could she have done that would have sprained her ankle this bad? As far as she could remember, she hadn't tripped last night, but then again, she had been wrestling a couple dozen vampires all night, she should have expected that she would be bruised today. Ok, she had expected to be bruised today, but she hadn't expected she wouldn't be able to walk.

"Man this sucks." She aloud, not really meaning to.

"What does, luv?" Spike asked, coming to sit back down next to her.

"Hello, I'm stuck here with you until the sun goes down, because I was stupid enough to turn my ankle last night." She explained, looking at him.

"You did more than just turning it, pet. You probably bruised the bone, maybe even cracked it, you might want to get ex-rays done, and find out." He said, "I figured it would be fine by now, with your Slayer healing powers and all, but you still seem to be having trouble with it."

"I'm fine, I don't need to go to the hospital, or get ex-rays, or do anything but stay off of it for a little while, and maybe eat some ice cream." He gave her a strange look.

"What?" she asked.

"Ice cream?"

"Yeah, it has a way of making things seem good, even when they suck real bad." She explained, "And plus, it comes in like a hundred different flavors, so you never really get bored eating it."

"Right, what ever you say, pet." He said, "But I don't think that ice cream is going to do you any good in the healing department."

"You're probably right, but hey, who cares as long as it tastes good." She said, not exactly thinking about what she was doing, and when it finally occurred to her what she was doing, she shut up.

Why was she talking to Spike like she would Willow, or even Dawn? This wasn't supposed to happen, she wasn't supposed to be able to carry on a conversation with him, much less one about how good ice cream was, what was going on? It had to be the fact that he had her pretty much held captive in his crypt, either that, or she was going crazy and actually temporarily thinking of him as a person, and not a vampire. But that would never happen, not on Buffy's watch. Right?


	4. Chapter 4

It had been a few hours since Buffy had seen Spike last, or, she figured it had been that long because she had dozed off for about a half an hour earlier. She moved herself into a sitting position and looked around, noting right away that Spike didn't exactly have bad taste in furniture, and his decorating skills were probably better than hers.

There was a red, most likely satin, couch in one of the corners, and a tapestry on almost every wall. She really didn't understand why people would want to hang rugs on their walls, but it did make the room look a little more royal than it should, being a hole in the ground and all.

There was a small wooden desk against the far wall, with a chair neatly tucked under it. She couldn't exactly see what was on it, but figured it didn't exactly matter right now, and if she had to, she could snoop through whatever it was later. Right now, she was too comfortable to move.

Her foot felt considerably better, and she was thanking whoever gave her slayer healing powers for that, then again, if it hadn't been for them, she probably wouldn't be a slayer in the first place and wouldn't have gotten hurt at all.

As she finished her visual inspection of the house, she began to wonder what Spike was doing. It was daytime, and there was doubt that he was doing anything but sitting up stairs avoiding her. But still, she couldn't help but wonder what he could be doing for so long up there, and the thought of why she cared was still bothering her. She hated Spike, right, so why did it matter to her what he was doing?

She shook her head, and lay back down, admiring the red canopy that hung from the large four-poster bed. And just as she was about to close her eyes and resume that nap she'd been taking earlier, Buffy heard someone coming down the ladder.

Spike lumbered down the ladder once again carrying a brown paper bag in his arms, only this time there was no blood in it. He set the bag down on the desk, and looked over at Buffy.

"Hey pet, I'm back."

"Yeah, I can see that." She told him, "What's in the bag? Donations from the butcher?"

"Actually not, but you probably don't care, so I'm not going to show you." He said.

"You're right, I don't care." She said, but she really was curious to find out what he had brought back with him, seeing as he'd obviously been out. "Wait a second, isn't it light outside? As in vampires turn to dust in this kind of weather?"

"No, it's raining outside, not enough sun to burn me to a crisp today."

For the first time she realized that he was soaked to the skin, and the bag was looking just a little bit soggy.

"Oh, what a shame..." she said sarcastically, still eyeing the bag.

He rolled his eyes at her, then sits down next to her on the bed, "Yeah, I know, but you'd have missed me if I was gone, pet."

It was her turn to roll her eyes, "Right Spike, I would really miss you, even keep your ashes in an urn on the mantle." She told him sarcastically.

"Aw.... She cares enough to buy me an urn, thank you Buffy, I'm truly touched." He said, smiling a little to sweetly at her.

She grumbled and pouted, "I was having so much fun while you weren't here, can't you just go back upstairs or something?" she asked, only glancing at him before going back into her cute little pout mode.

_Wait. Cute? No way, the slayer was not cute. Ok, maybe just a little.... Oh screw it, she's bloody gorgeous and you know it!_ Spike thought, "Fine I'll go back upstairs and I'll take my bag with me." He said, getting up and walking over to his desk.

She continued to pout, not only was he not going to show her what was in the bag, he wasn't even going to leave it down here for her to look through while he was watching her snoop.

"On second thought, if I don't do something with this, it's going to melt on me...." He said, and Buffy's head popped up.

"Melt on you?"

"Well yeah, that's what it does when it's left out, it melts, and seeing as I don't have a freezer or something of the like, I'm going to have to do something with it."

She smiled at him, he had gone out and bought ice-cream, probably for her too, seeing as they had had that conversation earlier about how it made her feel better, and the fact that he had nowhere to keep it.

"I think I can help you with that if you just let me see the bag." She said, propping herself up and swinging her legs over the side of the bed.

"Fine, but, only if you admit you like me, and that you'd miss me if I was dust."

She sighed, "Ok, Spike, I don't hate you and if you did turn to dust I wouldn't exactly be happy, that good?"

"Good enough." He said, sitting down next to her once more, and opening the bag, "So what do you like better, chocolate, or fish food?"

"Fish food?"

"Yeah, it's like chocolate ice cream with marshmallow stuff, and little chocolate fish in it, it's quite good actually." He told her, pulling out the two cartons of ice cream, and a couple of spoons.

"I guess I'll have to take your word for it, 'cause I'm not going to try it." She said, grabbing a spoon and the tub of chocolate ice cream from him.

She opened it, and dug in, enjoying the ice cream immensely, and finding herself in a much better mood than she had been in.

_Chocolate. It has a way of making everything better, just like Spike. _Buffy's eyes widened at her own thoughts. _What am I thinking, Spike makes everything worse, not better.... Even if he does bring me ice cream, and help me when I get hurt.... Stop it Buffy, you're making him sound like a hero, not like an evil vampire that you're supposed to hate!_

"What's the matter, luv?" Spike asked, noticing the confused and frustrated look Buffy had on her face.

Snapping herself out of her traitorous thoughts, Buffy looked over at him, "Huh?"

"I asked you what was wrong, you're not talking and you look mad, did I do something again?" he asked.

"No.... I mean yes, I mean.... Ugh! Can we just not talk about it?" she asked, not exactly understanding what she was thinking at the moment.

"Yeah, sure, but, only if you try this." Spike said, holding out a spoon full of the Fish Food ice cream to her.

She raised an eyebrow at him, and looked at it before taking the spoon from him, and eating it.

"Mmmm...."

Spike smiled, "See, told you you would like it." He said, getting another spoonful for himself and eating it, "You want anymore?"

She looked at him then nodded, and he held out a spoonful for her. This time she didn't bother to take the spoon from him, just took it in her mouth.

He blinked looking at little shocked at what she had just done, but he had no problem with it what so ever, so took his spoon out of her mouth and smirked at her. Eating more ice cream out of his tub, he glanced at her occasionally, and smiling at how unconsciously flustered she looked.

_God Buffy! What are you thinking? Letting him spoon-feed you like that? It's just going to feed his obsession, and it's not like you need to do that. _She thought, just a little bit confused at her actions.

_Then why did you let him do it, huh? Admit it Buffy, you liked it._

_I did not._

_Did too._

_Did not._

_Did too._

_I so did not, and having conversations with my inner self is really not good for my sanity._

She sighed, and shook her head, wondering why that part of her was arguing with her in the first place. Maybe she did like Spike, is that what her mind was trying to tell her?

_Well duh._

"Shut up!" Buffy said, becoming frustrated once again.

Spike abruptly looked over at her, a questioning look on his face, "I didn't say anything, luv."

She blushed, "Sorry, just me and my random outbursts, I didn't mean to just shout like that or anything, really...."

"Right then." Spike said.

_Did she just blush? Wait, did I just make her blush? _He thought, looking at her, watching as his gaze seemed to make the redness on her cheeks seem to increase. _And God, is she cute when she babbles._

Buffy was mad at herself for letting this happen. She felt the heat in her cheeks sore as he looked at her, and she didn't even know why she was embarrassed. Was it because she had just inwardly announced that she might like Spike? Because the blushing and the babbling were defiantly signs of an unwanted crush scenario that didn't seem like it would end well at all.

_Well, now that we know you're attracted to him,_ She thought, then amended quickly,_ only a little bit though, you can at least admit to yourself that you think he's hot, right? That's not going to do anything, is it?_

She sighed again and shook all the thoughts from her head, that didn't involve ice cream, away, and ate some more of hers. She blinked again; he had fed her ice cream! She had let him feed her ice cream! God, what was she getting herself into?


	5. Chapter 5

Two empty half-gallon tubs of ice cream lay on the floor next to the bed, along with two sticky spoons. A sigh echoed through the crypt, and Buffy sat up. She groaned and placed a hand on her stomach.

_Ok, note to self, 'never eat a whole half-gallon of ice cream that fast, or at one time, ever again.' _She thought, rubbing at her eyes.

She felt Spike sit up next her and turned to face him, wondering how exactly he had ended up lying down next to her in the first place. She shrugged the thought off, and held her head, trying to get rid of the cold, burning sensation that could only have been caused by the quick consumption of a cold foodstuff.

Or in English, Brian Freeze.

It was very common in teens when they were drinking slurpies and stuff, but Buffy really hadn't felt one as bad as this since high school, when she Xander and Willow had had a slushy drinking contest. Let's just say they never did that again.

She yawned, and rubbed her eyes again, wondering why she was so tired. It wasn't as if she'd done anything today, she really had no reason to be tired at all.

Spike looked over at Buffy, he was surprised that she hadn't attacked him the minute she'd found out he'd lay down next to her. She really was a weird person though. One minute she hates you, and the next she could care less. Maybe it was a girl thing...?

"Ok pet, it sounds like it stopped raining and it's dark out now, want to go home yet?" he asked her, standing up.

Buffy seemed to consider it for a moment, "Yeah, I need a shower, and sleep. Sleep would defiantly be good. But... how'd you know it stopped raining?"

"I can hear it pet, remember the heightened senses thing?" he asked.

"Right, whatever, let's just get going ok?" she asked, looking up at him.

"Alright then, but you have to promise that you're not going to be up and about until your ankle's better." He said before picking her up.

She glared at him, "Can we see if I can walk before you just pick me up Spike? "Cause you know, I don't think it would be a good idea to have you walk into my house with me in your arms." She told him, and he smirked.

"I think it would be right funny to see the look on your scoobies when that happens." He said chuckling, already picturing what each one of them would look like.

"When it happens? On no Spike, it's not going to happen." She said, pushing against his chest hard and wriggling out of his grasp so he dropped her on the bed again, "First we see if I can walk."

He rolled his eyes at her, but agreed, silently hoping she wouldn't be able to, that way he'd have an excuse to take her home... how'd she put it, oh right, in his arms. He liked the way that sounded. A lot.

Buffy brought Spike out of LaLaland when she fell against him, hissing in pain. He just barely caught her, managing not to fall over himself.

"You ok luv?" he asked, looking at her concerned.

"Fine, just –ah- don't move for a sec, ok?" She told him wincing a bit as she tried to put some weight on her foot again.

Why was this still hurting? Shouldn't it have healed by now? Maybe Spike was right, for once, and she bruised the bone or something like that. That really wouldn't be good. It would mean no patrolling until she was all fixed up, and judging by how she was now, that might take a few days.

Spike looked at her, "Now can I carry you, or have you not gotten it through your dense little head that you can't walk?"

Buffy's brow furrowed, why did he sound like he wanted to carry her home? Was this some kind of sick joke he was playing on her or something?

"Hold on, one more try." She said, pushing off of him, and hopping around on one foot before finally putting the other one on the ground. Almost as soon as she put weight on he injured limb, did she take it off, pain shooting through her leg.

"Ow"

She cursed as Spike came over to her, scooping her up in his arms and looking down at her with an amused smirk, "Give up?"

"I never give up." She said as he made his way over to the ladder.

He looked up, taking a minute to figure out how this was going to work, knowing he would never be able to carry her up that ladder with out one of them falling. Then he looked down at Buffy again.

"You're going to have to climb up the ladder on your own pet, I can't carry you up it without falling myself." He said, gently setting her down.

She sighed, hesitating before beginning to climb up the ladder, not putting any weight on her foot, or at least not trying to, only using one to hop up the rungs. She took it one step at a time, slowly making her way to the top until she finally pulled herself up into the top half of Spike's crypt.

Spike followed her quickly; glad she hadn't fallen in her attempt to climb up.

"Ok Pet, hold on." He said, picking her up once more, and moving t leave the crypt after closing the trap door behind him.

They walked, or rather Spike did, through the cemetery in silence, only occasionally glancing at each other. Neither of them knew what to say that would make this situation any more awkward than it already was.

When hey finally arrived at Buffy's house, Spike opened the door, then hesitated, he didn't know if he was still allowed in the house. He looked down at Buffy.

"Am I... I mean... Can I still go in?" he asked.

"Yeah, why wouldn't you be able to?" she asked, looking up at him curiously.

"Well, seeing as you hate me, I figured you might have revoked the invite or something like that, and I wouldn't be able to get in..." He said, and she frowned.

"Spike, you helped when I was... gone. You took care of Dawn for me, you should know I would trust you enough to allow you in my house, and plus, remember your chip?" she asked, though she knew it didn't matter that he had the chip any more, he would have her trust anyway. And though she hated to admit it, he had earned it.

"Right then," he said, stepping through the doorway, and going upstairs to her bedroom.

Both of them were surprised that Dawn didn't flip out at her when they got there, more importantly, she didn't even make an appearance when that had gotten there. It didn't seem right, then again, Dawn was probably staying at Willow's house instead of alone at home.

Spike set Buffy down on the bed, and looked down at her.

"I suppose you want me to leave now..." he said, then, without waiting for an answer, he turned around and strode to the door.

"Spike wait." She called softly to him, and he turned around to look at her.

"What pet?"

"Would you stay with me...?" she asked him, not exactly wanting to be alone until Dawn came home. Seeing as that could be until tomorrow evening.

When he just stood there looking at her, she tried again, "...please...?"

He shook his head, and then went back over to the bed, grabbing her desk chair, positioning himself at the edge near her nightstand.

"Sure pet, I can, if you want me to."

She smiled briefly, then grabbed a blanket and pulled it over herself. She still had her clothes on, but didn't think it really mattered, and really didn't care. She threw an extra blanket at Spike, who looked at her funny.

"What, don't vampires use blankets?" she asked

"Only sometimes..." he told her, laying the blanket over his lap, "Thanks."

She nodded at him, and laid her head down on the pillows, yawning.

Spike watched her as she fell asleep, wondering what had possessed her to let him stay, or, more importantly, _ask_ him to stay. He figured that maybe she got hit in the head or something; because this was defiantly not something she would do any other day of the week.

He smiled as she sighed in her sleep, regarding everything she was doing, memorizing her movements and how she looked, not thinking he'd ever get a chance to do this again.

Her mouth was slightly open, and she was making noises that sounded like a cross between a moan and a whimper, he really couldn't tell which. Sleeping noises, that's what they were. Her cheeks were slightly flushed, and her eyelids were fluttering ever so slightly.

_She's dreaming.... _Spike thought, _God she's cute when she sleeps.... Hm... seems you think she's cute all the time Spike.... Yeah so, that going to kill me?_

Spike shook his head clean of his conflicted and thoughts that seemed to talk back to him when he asked questions or just made statements in his head. Maybe he was going crazy. Oh well, he'd get over it; it wasn't as if he actually had long conversations with those voices.

_You do too, you twit._

Spike blinked, ok, that was way to weird. He sighed, and continued to watch Buffy as she slept, savoring the moment, really hoping it wasn't the last time he'd get to do it.


End file.
